What I Built
I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with technology. In college, I majored in computer science and took classes ranging from electrical engineering to human-computer interaction. From soldering transistors on a physical circuit board to designing UI/UX experiences, I’ve touched many layers of the computing stack—and I’m constantly mind-blown by every new piece of the puzzle I learn.
However, my experience as a user of technology before studying it was very different. In middle school and high school, my phone made me feel anxious, stressed, and cynical. I felt lonely on social apps and isolated when I deleted them. I remember some summer days in middle school spent alone in my bedroom watching YouTube, where I was recommended extreme dieting videos. Back when I had no idea what an algorithm was, I still knew I was being harmed by them.
By my sophomore year of college, I had deleted Instagram and TikTok and turned off YouTube recommendations. While this protected me from harmful and extreme content, I also missed important life updates from my close friends and family.
After taking a web development class and learning how to build a basic card layout, I decided to try building my own social app: Lumira.
